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Prerelease:Jazz Jackrabbit (DOS)

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This page details pre-release information and/or media for Jazz Jackrabbit (DOS).

Development Timeline

1990

  • December 28 - Date of DIET.OVL[1] in the early Universal Game Editor engine by Arjan Brussee that became Jazz Jackrabbit.[2] This is the earliest file.

1991

  • October[3] - UltraForce's VectorDemo for PC, whose 3D coding was done by Arjan Brussee[4], is released. It ends up getting the attention of Epic MegaGames head Tim Sweeney.[5]

1992

  • Tim Sweeney announces the entirety of UltraForce joining Epic MegaGames in Epic Insider Letter Premier Issue, and that their first games there will be "Klatris, Bart's Law, and Turrikan".[6] According to Arjan Brussee, only he of the group ends up going on with Epic in the end.[5]

1993

  • March 12 - Date of G_MAIN.EXE and G_EDIT.EXE[1] in the early Universal Game Editor engine, which is dated to this month.[2]
  • When Cliff Bleszinski receives a build of said engine, he starts pondering the kind of game he could make with it. He ends up thinking of something inspired by Sonic the Hedgehog and other platform games, with the player character being a rabbit with a bandanna, ski goggles, and a gun. He considers the names Rambo Rabbit and Jaz the Jackwabbit before settling with Jazz Jackrabbit.[5]
  • September - Earliest month that Arjan Brussee likely started working on Jazz Jackrabbit.[5]
  • October 28 - Epic Pinball for DOS is released.[7] The in-game readme contains a preview for Jazz with a sliver of an early screenshot.

1994

  • Artist Nick Stadler eventually gets brought to the team by Epic to rework the design of Jazz, reworking Cliff Bleszinski's concept for "a classic Warner Brothers animation look". Apparently the enthusiasm for this redesign causes the game to be delayed. Stadler also contributed Eva Earlong and Devan Shell.[8]
  • February - A missed launch window for the game.[9][10]
  • March - A missed launch window for the game.[11]
  • May 10 - Joshua Jensen, credited for the Sound System in the final game, states that "final beta should be ready very soon for [Jazz]".[12]
  • June 11 - Arjan Brussee mentions that Jazz is undergoing "heavy beta testing".[13]
  • June 15 - Epic mentions the impending release of Jazz Jackrabbit, deliberately leaving out a release date.[14]
  • July 19 - Joshua Jensen states that Jazz Jackrabbit "is in final beta", and that the release is imminent.[15]
  • August 1 - The shareware version of Jazz Jackrabbit is released via BBS and FTP, with the full version being available for order.[16]
  • August 26 - Arjan Brussee says the CD version is in development, advising those with a CD-ROM drive to wait on buying the registered version.[17]
  • November 28 - Epic announces Jazz Jackrabbit CD being released, adding three new episodes and additional animations.[18]
  • December 15 - Epic announces the release of the shareware Holiday Hare '94.[19]

1995

  • November 8 - Epic announces the release of the shareware Holiday Hare '95.[20]

Concept Art

These sketches by Cliff Bleszinski show the title character's earlier depiction of wearing goggles. He also appears to have a more realistic gun.

This gun probably ended up being too heavy for Jazz to carry.

That platform with the spikes almost looks like a mouth.

(Source: De ontwikkeling van Jazz Jackrabbit)

Screenshots

Magazine Screenshots

These early screenshots of the game show Jazz with the aforementioned goggles in blue, as well as quite different graphics.

Early Final
Jazz1 EarlyScreen1.jpg Jazz1 FinalScreen1.png
Early Final
Jazz1 EarlyScreen2.jpg Jazz1 FinalScreen2.png
Early Final
Jazz1 EarlyScreen3.jpg Jazz1 FinalScreen3.png
Early Final
Jazz1 EarlyScreen4.jpg Jazz1 FinalScreen4.png
Early Final
Jazz1 EarlyScreen5.jpg Jazz1 FinalScreen5.png
Early Final
Jazz1 EarlyScreen6.jpg Jazz1 FinalScreen6.png
Early Final
Jazz1 EarlyTitleAndGameplay.jpg Jazz1 TitleCardFinal.pngJazz1 FinalScreen7.png
(Source: De ontwikkeling van Jazz Jackrabbit)

Epic Pinball Shareware

Jazz got an early preview in Epic Pinball's in-game readme.

Screenshot Jazz text
Jazz1 EpicPinballComingSoon.png 
THE JAZZ MOTTO: 'WHEN YOU'RE A LITTLE
RABBIT, CARRY A BIG GUN!' THIS GAME IS AN
ARCADE SPREE FEATURING THE QUICKEST
SUPERSONIC ACTION A BUNNY HAS EVER SEEN.

The slide after this one contains a sliver of an early screenshot of Jazz. Both the background and sprite graphics here are quite different from the final game.

Epic Pinball Shareware v1.1 Epic Pinball Shareware v2.1 Final
Jazz1 EpicPinball1.1Shot.png Jazz1 EpicPinballShot.png Jazz1 EpicPinballFinal.png
(Source: MobyGames for the 2.1 shot)

Color Artwork Disk v1.0, 1994-08-04

A promotional disk from Epic contained eight screenshots of the game with a blue status bar and the pre-Stadler design for Jazz. Background and enemy graphics are much closer to final now, though.

Color Artwork Disk v1.0 Final
Jazz1 Disk1.png Jazz1 Disk1Final.png
Color Artwork Disk v1.0 Final
Jazz1 Disk2.png Jazz1 Disk2Final.png
Color Artwork Disk v1.0 Final
Jazz1 Disk3.png Jazz1 Disk3Final.png
Color Artwork Disk v1.0 Final
Jazz1 Disk4.png Jazz1 Disk4Final.png
Color Artwork Disk v1.0 Final
Jazz1 Disk5.png Jazz1 Disk5Final.png
Color Artwork Disk v1.0 Final
Jazz1 Disk6.png Jazz1 Disk6Final.png
Color Artwork Disk v1.0 Final
Jazz1 Disk7.png Jazz1 Disk7Final.png
Color Artwork Disk v1.0 Final
Jazz1 Disk8.png Jazz1 Disk8Final.png
(Source: MobyGames)

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://ia600803.us.archive.org/view_archive.php?archive=/7/items/universal-game-editor/universal%20game%20editor.zip
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Universal Game Editor + VGA games system beta by Arjan Brussee
  3. ↑ VectorDemo by UltraForce :: pouët.net
  4. ↑ Ultra Force Development - Demogroup Downloads

    Vector Demo

    author(s)

    A. Brussee (3D coding) & J. Munnik

    date

    1991

  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 De ontwikkeling van Jazz Jackrabbit
  6. ↑ 1992 Q1 Epic Insider Letter
  7. ↑ Epic Pinball is HERE! - "ROCKVILLE, Maryland, October 28, 1993 -- Epic MegaGames has released Epic Pinball, a major new shareware game!"
  8. ↑ Interview with Jazz Jackrabbit artist Nick Stadler
  9. ↑ Re: Apogee Reaction to Jazz Jackrabbit - "Epic's last delays were Jazz Jackrabbit, due last February; Epic Baseball, also due last February; and One Must Fall, due last summer."
  10. ↑ Re: One Must Fall--the Strike Commander of shareware! - "Actually Jazz Jackrabbit was delayed for a while -- I first heard of it when it was supposed to come out Feb 1994."
  11. ↑ [GUS] Just to let you know - "Jazz Jack Rabbit Mar (Native)"
  12. ↑ Unofficial Epic Product Update
  13. ↑ Re: Apogee's Hocus Pocus (parallax scrolling in 256 colors) - "To really establish the concept of smooth scrolling on the PC's check out Jazz Jackrabbit from Epic Megagames (coincidentally programmed by me) and Turrican 2 from Rainbow Arts. Both are not out yet, but in heavy beta testing."
  14. ↑ Epic MegaNews #2 - "We're not giving an official release date for Jazz, but we will put out a special issue of MegaNews as soon as it's available. We just didn't want to tarnish our excellent reputation with release dates... Not! :-) "
  15. ↑ Re: Jazz Jackrabbit - "Jazz Jackrabbit is in final beta right now! Jazz is due to be Compuserve's Game of the Month on August 1st, so expect release REAL SOON now! :)"
  16. ↑ Epic MegaNews #3
    • "The shareware version of Jazz will be released today, August 1, to BBS's and Internet sites worldwide!"
    • "The five other episodes of Jazz aren't available as shareware. You can buy the collection of all SIX episodes directly from Epic."
  17. ↑ !!! Jazz - DONT BUY THE FULL VERSION !! - "the CD-version will take a while to develop, it's under construction now. All the levels will be redone (graphics+touches), more enemies will be added, more special moves will be available PLUS you will get 3 more episodes. All the users who registered the normal game will have a discount offer in their mail as soon as the Jazz-CD is out."
  18. ↑ Epic MegaNews #5 - "Jazz CD is available now, and it's jam-packed with new graphics, levels, and animation"
  19. ↑ Epic MegaNews #6 - "Epic MegaGames has a Christmas present for you, and you can pick it up on your local BBS, favorite Internet site, or on CompuServe (GO EPIC). The all-new Christmas Edition of Jazz Jackrabbit features new levels, new 3D bonus stages, and new features with some of the best Jazz art, animation, and music yet!"
  20. ↑ ** EPIC RELEASES NEW GAMES **
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